Archive

MT's official files as Prime Minister, 1979-90

MT's official files as PM can be read on this site as they are released, in full and free to all - the confidential files originally stored at No.10, the core record of her premiership.

The files have been copied at the British National Archives (TNA) at Kew in London and can be downloaded precisely as they appear in the reading room.

We are doing something more to help people make sense of this mass of information. The files are subject-based, logically enough, but that system makes it difficult to reconstruct the flow of paper across the Prime Minister’s desk at any point in time, depriving us of a sense of context, of the political cross-winds, some of them overwhelming.

To combat this effect we are uploading a large selection of the most important documents from these files – thousands in total – to our powerful site database. You can search and sort by date, subject and other parameters, getting as close as anyone can now get to reconstructing the Prime Minister’s daily "Red Boxes", the rich diet of foreign and domestic policy papers submitted to her by the No.10 Private Office.

List and links to the PM’s files

Below are links to the downloadable files in numerical order. The subject terms are those used in the original filing system.

An average file has around 200 pages.

You can read here an account of how filing worked at No.10, and the system for archiving MT’s Prime Ministerial papers, both of which had their quirks.

Chancellor of the Exchequer’s Private Office files, 1979-1989

1979-89: Chancellor’s Private Office files [links to hundreds of digitised files from the Chancellorships of Sir Geoffrey Howe and Nigel Lawson]

Engagement Diaries

An alternative way through the material is to read MT’s engagement diaries, jumping day to day.

The engagement diaries link directly to relevant documents in the site database, so this is a good way to recover the perspective from the Red Box.

Showing items 951 - 1000 of 5082

Per page:
File name File title Begins Ends Release date Any docs withheld? Classification Pages
PREM19/871 Poland (Internal situation; state of emergency - martial law) (Part 5) Begins: 1981 Dec 19 Ends: 1982 Jan 5 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Secret Pages: 305
PREM19/872 Poland (Internal situation; state of emergency - martial law; possible measures to be taken against Poland and Soviet Union) (Part 6) Begins: 1982 Jan 6 Ends: 1982 Jan 21 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Top Secret Pages: 230
PREM19/873 Poland (Internal situation; state of emergency - martial law; possible measures to be taken against Poland and Soviet Union; Day of Solidarity with the Polish People) (Part 7) Begins: 1982 Jan 22 Ends: 1982 Feb 8 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Secret Pages: 292
PREM19/874 Poland (Internal situation; state of emergency - martial law; possible measures to be taken against Poland and Soviet Union; Polish debt rescheduling; Polish refugees) (Part 8) Begins: 1982 Feb 9 Ends: 1982 Oct 19 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Secret Pages: 252
PREM19/875 Posts and telecommunications (Future of Post Office: liberalisation of telecommunications monopoly; British Telecom's investment programme; BT and postal tariff increases) (Part 3) Begins: 1981 Mar 4 Ends: 1982 Mar 16 Date of release: 2013 Sep 24 Classification: Top Secret Pages: 282
PREM19/876 Posts and telecommunications (Future of the Post Office: telecommunications liberalisation and privatisation; British Telecom's financial position and prices; System X) (Part 4) Begins: 1982 Mar 22 Ends: 1982 Jul 19 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Top Secret Pages: 159
PREM19/877 Posts and telecommunications (Future of the Post Office: telecommunications liberalisation and privatisation; Telecommunications Bill; System X) (Part 5) Begins: 1982 Jul 12 Ends: 1982 Oct 21 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Secret Pages: 145
PREM19/878 Prime Minister (Communications with Jimmy Savile concerning tax deductions for charitable donations following his fund raising for Stoke Mandeville hospital) Begins: 1980 Feb 5 Ends: 1982 Jan 8 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Any docs withheld? 4 Classification: Secret Pages: 22
PREM19/879 Prime Minister (Meeting with delegation of Conservative Friends of Israel) Begins: 1980 May 1 Ends: 1982 Jul 12 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Confidential Pages: 31
PREM19/880 Prime Minister (Meeting with George Foulkes MP to discuss closure of Falmers factory in Patna, Scotland) Begins: 1981 Feb 16 Ends: 1982 Jul 30 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Confidential Pages: 94
PREM19/881 Prime Minister (Meetings with James Craigen MP to discuss closure of Bryant and May and Metal Box factories in Glasgow) Begins: 1981 Feb 27 Ends: 1982 Dec 15 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Unclassified Pages: 49
PREM19/882 Prime Minister (Meeting with Sir Siegmund Warburg and Dr Winifried Guth; Anglo-German relations) Begins: 1981 Mar 10 Ends: 1982 Mar 18 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Confidential Pages: 28
PREM19/883 Prime Minister (Meetings with Robert Kilroy-Silk MP to discuss closures of factories in his Ormskirk constituency) Begins: 1981 Mar 5 Ends: 1982 Apr 8 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Unclassified Pages: 36
PREM19/884 Prime Minister (Meetings with Geoffrey Robinson MP to discuss redundancies in Jaguar factories in Coventry) Begins: 1981 Jun 1 Ends: 1982 Jan 21 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Unclassified Pages: 28
PREM19/885 Prime Minister (Meeting with Allen Adams MP to discuss redundancies at J & P Coats (UK) Ltd mill at Paisley) Begins: 1981 Nov 24 Ends: 1982 Jan 22 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Confidential Pages: 27
PREM19/886 Prime Minister (Meeting with Sir Ernest Harrison, Chairman of Racal Electronics Ltd) Begins: 1981 Oct 30 Ends: 1982 Feb 10 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Unclassified Pages: 19
PREM19/887 Prime Minister (Meeting with Albert Booth MP to discuss closure of Derwest Jennings factory in Barrow-in-Furness) Begins: 1982 Feb 2 Ends: 1982 Jul 20 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Unclassified Pages: 30
PREM19/888 Prime Minister (Meeting with Daniel Jones MP to discuss Lucas Aerospace redundancies in Burnley) Begins: 1982 Feb 4 Ends: 1982 Mar 27 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Unclassified Pages: 27
PREM19/889 Prime Minister (Meeting with John Opel, President of International Business Machines (IBM), concerning investment in the UK) Begins: 1982 May 21 Ends: 1982 Aug 9 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Unclassified Pages: 28
PREM19/890 Prime Minister (Meeting with Robert Adley MP to discuss Prime Minister's visit to Far East) Begins: 1982 Jul 15 Ends: 1982 Sep 15 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Confidential Pages: 23
PREM19/891 Prime Minister (Meeting with Hong Kong Association members) Begins: 1982 Aug 20 Ends: 1982 Sep 27 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Secret Pages: 28
PREM19/892 Prime Minister (Meeting with George Turnbull and Anthony Fraser, President and Chairman of Motor Manufacturers and Traders Association, on problems of the UK motor industry) Begins: 1982 Oct 15 Ends: 1982 Dec 24 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Confidential Pages: 22
PREM19/893 Prime Minister (Disappearance and rescue of Mark Thatcher in Algeria during Paris to Dakar car rally) Begins: 1981 Dec 17 Ends: 1982 Sep 13 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Confidential Pages: 104
PREM19/894 Prime Minister (Closure of British Aluminium Company's smelter at Invergordon; meeting with Lord Plowden; proposals for a restart; proposed new power contract) (Part 1) Begins: 1981 Dec 4 Ends: 1982 Mar 19 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Confidential Pages: 193
PREM19/895 Prime Minister (Closure of British Aluminium Company's smelter at Invergordon: proposals for a restart; proposed new power contract; government assistance) (Part 2) Begins: 1982 Mar 22 Ends: 1982 Jul 28 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Confidential Pages: 93
PREM19/896 Rhodesia (Sir Roy Welensky, former Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland) Begins: 1979 Oct 31 Ends: 1982 Oct 28 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Any docs withheld? 1 Classification: Secret Pages: 61
PREM19/897 Royal family (Duchy of Cornwall Management Bill) Begins: 1981 Jun 22 Ends: 1982 Jun 24 Date of release: 2014 Feb 14 Classification: Confidential Pages: 29
PREM19/898 Royal family (Prime Minister's Audiences with the Queen) (Part 1) Begins: 1979 May 8 Ends: 1982 Feb 9 Date of release: 2013 Dec 6 Any docs withheld? 147 Classification: Unclassified Pages: 105
PREM19/899 Royal family (Civil List) (Part 1) Begins: 1979 Jun 7 Ends: 1982 Mar 23 Date of release: Retained Classification: Unknown
PREM19/900 Saudi Arabia (Visit to UK by Shaikh Hisham Nazer, Saudi Minister of Planning: call on Prime Minister) Begins: 1982 Jan 8 Ends: 1982 Mar 2 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Confidential Pages: 14
PREM19/901 Saudi Arabia (Visit to UK by King Khalid of Saudi Arabia, June 1981: talks with Prime Minister) Begins: 1981 Mar 3 Ends: 1981 Aug 3 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Any docs withheld? 3 Classification: Confidential Pages: 145
PREM19/902 Science and Technology (Government procurement of computers and related equipment; Prime Minister’s reception for representatives of the computer industry) Begins: 1981 Mar 11 Ends: 1982 Feb 15 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Confidential Pages: 131
PREM19/903 Science and Technology (Higher education and new technologies; manpower and technology transfer; Prime Minister’s lunch for industry representatives) Begins: 1982 Mar 25 Ends: 1982 Apr 2 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Restricted Pages: 17
PREM19/904 Science and Technology (Presentation on information technology) Begins: 1982 Feb 18 Ends: 1982 May 20 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Unclassified Pages: 47
PREM19/905 Scotland (Scottish Milk Marketing Board (SMMB): correspondence with Dr W G Jack about SMMB’s decision to extend the operation of its tanker fleet) Begins: 1979 Sep 26 Ends: 1982 Jan 22 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Unclassified Pages: 161
PREM19/906 Security (Case of Professor Hugh Hambleton, Canadian citizen and self-confessed Soviet spy) Begins: 1980 Jun 26 Ends: 1982 Dec 7 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Any docs withheld? 1 Classification: Secret Pages: 53
PREM19/907 Security (German occupation of the Channel Islands: allegations by Solomon Steckoll against Channel Islands officials) Begins: 1980 Sep 24 Ends: 1982 Mar 11 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Unclassified Pages: 27
PREM19/908 Security (Information provided to Sunday Times by a former Security Service officer) Begins: 1982 Jan 24 Ends: 1982 Jan 25 Date of release: Retained Sec 3.4 Classification: Unknown
PREM19/909 Soviet Union (Soviet General Staff Command exercise) Begins: 1982 Jun 24 Ends: 1982 Jul 15 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Top Secret Pages: 6
PREM19/910 Security (Publication of book by Gordon Welchman (former head of Hut 6) called 'The Hut Six Story' on wartime German Enigma cryptanalysis: reactions of US and UK governments) Begins: 1982 Apr 30 Ends: 1982 Jul 27 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Secret Pages: 8
PREM19/911 Security (Provisional IRA: acquisition of weapons) Begins: 1982 Aug 26 Ends: 1982 Sep 7 Date of release: Retained Sec 3.4 Classification: Unknown
PREM19/912 Security ('Doomsday Minus Four' by Larry Clark) Begins: 1982 Jan 14 Ends: 1982 Jan 15 Date of release: Retained Sec 3.4 Classification: Unknown
PREM19/913 Security (Labour Party discussion document on the Security Services) Begins: 1981 Feb 6 Ends: 1982 Feb 28 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Secret Pages: 13
PREM19/914 Security (Concern over leakages of official information to journalists Peter Hennessy and Peter Stothard) Begins: 1981 Jun 1 Ends: 1981 Jun 5 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Unclassified Pages: 7
PREM19/915 Security (Fire precautions at Chequers; fire in telecommunications room, September 1982) Begins: 1978 Feb 23 Ends: 1982 Sep 20 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Unclassified Pages: 59
PREM19/916 Security (Resignation of Commander Michael Trestrail, Queen's Police Officer; homosexual relationship with male prostitute; investigation by Lord Bridge of Harwich into security aspects) Begins: 1982 Jul 19 Ends: 1982 Nov 25 Date of release: 2013 Nov 20 Classification: Secret Pages: 82
PREM19/917 Security (Security at GCHQ: representations from Nicholas Edwards MP; untimely deaths of two GCHQ employees (Jack Wolfenden in an aircraft accident) and Ernest Peter Brockway (suspected suicide); question of a 'radio ham' who lived for 11 years with a translator at GCHQ) Begins: 1982 Nov 23 Ends: 1982 Dec 24 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Any docs withheld? 3 Classification: Secret Pages: 16
PREM19/918 Security (Activities of Leo Long) Begins: 1981 Nov 2 Ends: 1982 Mar 23 Date of release: Retained Sec 3.4 Classification: Unknown
PREM19/919 Security (Security at Chequers; reports on break-in (September 1966); mishandled mail (December 1972); Territorial Army exercise (June 1973); low-flying over Chequers (February 1974)) Begins: 1966 Oct 7 Ends: 1982 Oct 18 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Secret Pages: 23
PREM19/920 Social services (Uprating of social security benefits) (Part 1) Begins: 1979 May 17 Ends: 1980 Jan 10 Date of release: 2012 Dec 28 Classification: Secret Pages: 79
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